Hingham is a community in the greater metro Boston area on the South Shore of Massachusetts in northern Plymouth County. According to the census of 2010 its population was 22,160. The need for competent, reliable home care providers in Hingham, Massachusetts is no different than the rest of the nation. The benefits of home care are clear. It helps the elderly and frail patients reduce hospital readmission, monitors their care more closely and annually saves more than $25 million in federal funds, according to a recent national study.
These findings, of course, come as no surprise to providers and users of home care, who have long reached the same conclusion: that home care delivers better care and better health at a lower cost. Unlike in an institutional setting, where clinicians and aides are responsible for multiple patients (often too many than they can properly handle), home care is a one-to-one proposition. A home health aide cares for only one patient.
Take the case of the Santiago family in Hingham, MA which can paint a picture of exactly what the matriarch of the family was like “before” and “after” receiving home care. Almost 90 years old and disabled, Geraldine had spent two months in the hospital and then several weeks in rehab after suffering a minor stroke. She had also suffered for years from a number of chronic diseases: hypertension, diabetes, emphysema and cardiovascular disease.
“All we know was that when she came out of the hospital and rehab center, she was in worse shape than she had been before her stroke,” said her daughter, Miranda. “The care she received at both the hospital and rehab center was okay, but less than we expected. No one ever got her out of bed and, as a result, she ended up with terrible bed sores. She had no energy, was depressed and seemed to sleep most of the day. In short, she was a mess and we were not very optimistic about her future.”
Once Geraldine was discharged from the rehab center, Miranda – who lives with her mother – realized she had neither the time nor the wherewithal to care for her mother. She works full-time and did not feel capable changing her mother’s dressings or using the lift to get her out of bed.
Hingham, MA Home Care Agency
“I called a nearby Hingham, MA home care agency for help, without any anticipation they would do much more than babysit my mother,” she said. “I really thought she was on a downhill slide and we would just make her last days a little easier.”
Miranda, however, was pleasantly surprised when within a matter of weeks her mother’s bedsores were healed. She was not only getting out of bed in the morning – and staying active during the day – but seemed energized both physically and mentally.
“Gwen, her home health aide, is a real go getter,” said Miranda. “Every morning, as soon as she comes in she puts a smile on my mother’s face. At the beginning, no matter how unresponsive my mother was, she had her out of bed, in the shower, and eating a nutritious breakfast. They would watch the news together, make sure she took her meds, and then get involved in some kind of project that got her mind going.”
Miranda found that within the first month, her mother was continuing to do word puzzles or crochet after Gwen left at 6 p.m., which is when Miranda returns from work. These were activities she hadn’t done in years.
“In a million years I never saw my mother ever doing these kinds of activities again,” said Miranda. “When she left the rehab center she was a sick and defeated old woman who could barely communicate. Gwen has been like a miracle worker. Whatever she did for my mother, she should bottle and sell it.”
Home Care Hingham, MA 02044
Of course, this is just one of millions of stories about how senior home care has not only maintained, but improved the health of elderly and infirm patients.
If you or a loved are in need of senior home care, or just want to start the process of exploring Hingham MA home care as an option, please feel free to contact us, Cottage Caregivers, by calling (781) 430-8599 or by simply sending us a message via our contact form.
